Is your backyard working for you?

When my husband and I decided to go house hunting, my first priority was the gardening potential of the yard. I had lived in apartments for several years before we bought our house. Not only did I lack yard space, but I did not even live in the same place for more than a year. I was so excited to be getting a sizable yard with plenty of growing potential. I was happy to just maintain the plants that were already established since my initial focus was to finish my degree and find a desk job.

Once I found a job, I made a budget to pay off my student loans at a vigorous pace. While my husband had supported me in school, I didn't worry about finances because school was stressful enough. Once I started getting a paycheck, my self-reliance kicked in and I wanted to hold up my end of expenses while improving the efficiency of my budget. I started getting frugal. I started going without things I didn't see as neccesary to surviving. Mowing the lawn, for example seems like such a waste of energy for the reward of...looking nice? I would rather have food and keep some grocery money in my pocket. Besides, I consider fruit and vegetable plants far more aesthetically pleasing than a field of unused green.

My first garden project was growing a tomato plant in a topsy turvey planter. The whole reason I planted it was because I didn't like paying $2 for a tomato at the grocery store.

Unfortunately, I didn't give my plant quite the attention it needed. It didn't produce any fruit, though I didn't expect any the first year. I would have been overjoyed just to have it survive the blazing hot summer and my overgrown Shepard/Rottie pup. I had thought I trained him not to chew on the plant, but I noticed one day that half the plant was gone. I started to get mad at the dog, but then I saw the great big Tobacco Horn Worm (pictured in their plastic prison).

After dispatching the worm twins, I made a commitment to myself that I would put in a whole hearted effort to grow food in my yard in 2012. I am intrigued by the Primal Blueprint. I have tried vegan in the past, but the only thing that concerns me about meat is the toxins poured into animals by Big Agra. I found also that I can't sustain a vegan diet on a low budget and keep my energy level up high enough to want to continue trying. I've looked up my city ordinance and found that I can keep hens and rabbits.

I find this path as the challenge I have been craving my whole life. I spent the last decade wasting this drive on video games which crumbled my creativity, zest for life, and health to dust. I used to spend so much time wanting to live virtually that I forgot how amazing it feels to actually live my life and how empowering self-sufficiency can be.

Now is the time to test myself and see if I can truly survive what the future brings. Urban farming seems the most sensible way to spend my free time and creativity. Neccesity is the mother of invention. If I could create methods of running a backyard farm that I could sustain for many years, is humane, and good for the earth, then that knowledge is worth all the hardship of trying. And since I'm impatient, I'll be doing this while holding down a day job to pay off my existing debt.